Dear Readers….. as previously posted we heard Vice Mayor McIntee asked for and received a leave of absence from the VFD to assist Commissioner Silverstone in his re-election. The action made this writer take a second look at the newly enacted campaign ordinance put into place by the present commission in January of 2009. In the new ordinance it appears the VFD and its members as contracted vendors to the Town, appearing on the Town’s current vendor list fall under…. “ARTICLE II. TOWN COMMISSION* Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida – Code of Ordinances
…2, 5-11-04) Sec. 2-25. Campaign finance restrictions. (a) General prohibition of campaign contributions by Town vendors, disqualification…give, solicit for, deliver or provide a campaign contribution directly or indirectly…”….and as such are subject to follow it. …I sent an inquiry to address this issue to the Town Manager and the Commissioners today. I also asked if there was an added possibility of breaking Sunshine for Comm. Silverstone and Vice Mayor McIntee in discussing items alone or being in rooms campaigning while Comm. Silverstone is discussing items that will be brought to the dais over the next two months….I asked Commissioner Dodd prior to my e-mail being sent to the Town and Commissioners to put this item on the Jan. 26, 2010 agenda and he said he would. I further asked the Town to put a copy of my inquiry in the Vice Mayor’s box due to his “no-e-mail” on the Town website…The e-mail and the ordinance are below with a link to the Muni-code…

Dear Town Manager Colon, Commissioners and Attorney Trevarthen:
It has come to my attention that Vice Mayor McIntee has asked for and received an “exemption” from service in the VFD for a month to concentrate and assist Commissioner Silverstone in his campaign for re-election.
I would like the Town and the Commission to inquire if this is a conflict on two fronts.
First, is there a Sunshine problem for 2 Commissioners to be discussing issues or be in rooms during the campaign together with the candidate discussing issues that are to be discussed on the dais.
Second, and more important is the possible conflict under the new campaign restrictions enacted by the commission in 2009. As you can see from the below ordinance no vendor can give, solicit or indirectly provide campaign contributions directly or indirectly to a candidate, or to the campaign of a candidate for the offices of Mayor or Commissioner. This is in effect and I cannot see how a member of the VFD can campaign with Commissioner Silverstone. The Vice Mayor’s ” exemption” does not mean the Vice Mayor is no longer a VFD member, it means he will not vote or participate while on leave. As a member of the VFD he is a vendor contracted with the Town and I believe falls under the restrictions stated in the ordinance, as the VFD is on the Town’s vendor list.
I am also curious if Commissioner Silverstone also falls under the same restrictions, as he too is a contracted vendor to the town as a VFD member.
I await the Town’s response and that of the Commission.
I want to make it clear I am asking the Town and the Commission, not the Town Attorney. If the Town and the Commission decide to get a legal opinion from the Town Attorney that would be at the expense of the Town, and not at my personal expense.
I await an answer to my concerns and have asked one commissioner to put this item on the next agenda to address.
Please see that Vice Mayor McIntee receives a copy of this inquiry due to his not having a town e-mail.
Thank you, Barbara Cole

The Muni-Code-Town Website below

1. ARTICLE II. TOWN COMMISSION* Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida – Code of Ordinances
…2, 5-11-04) Sec. 2-25. Campaign finance restrictions. (a) General prohibition of campaign contributions by Town vendors, disqualification…give, solicit for, deliver or provide a campaign contribution directly or indirectly…
Sec. 2-25. Campaign finance restrictions.
(a) General prohibition of campaign contributions by Town vendors, disqualification, definitions.
(1) a. No vendor shall give, solicit for, deliver or provide a campaign contribution directly or indirectly to a candidate, or to the campaign committee of a candidate, for the offices of Mayor or Commissioner. Commencing on the effective date of this section, all proposed Town contracts, as well as requests for proposals (RFP), requests for qualifications (RFQ), requests for letters of interest (RFLI), or solicitations of bids issued by the Town, shall incorporate notice of this section so as to notify potential vendors of the proscription embodied herein.
b. No candidate or campaign committee of a candidate for the offices of Mayor or Commissioner, shall deposit into such candidate’s campaign account any campaign contribution which is received directly or indirectly from a vendor or which such candidate or campaign committee knows or should know was solicited by or for a vendor or delivered or provided by a vendor. Candidates or those acting on their behalf shall ensure compliance with this Code section by confirming through examination of the official vendor list maintained by the Town to verify the vendor status of any potential contributor. A candidate or the campaign committee of a candidate shall not be in violation of this paragraph b. if the vendor was not listed as a vendor on the Town’s official vendor list at the time that the contribution was received or deposited so long as the candidate or the campaign committee of a candidate did not know that the person or entity was a vendor of the Town.
(2) Each prohibited act of giving, soliciting for, delivering or providing a campaign contribution or depositing a campaign contribution in violation of this section shall constitute a separate violation. All contributions deposited into a candidate’s campaign account in violation of this section shall be forfeited to the Town’s general revenue fund.
(3) a. A person or entity, other than a then existing vendor, who directly or indirectly makes a campaign contribution to a candidate who is elected to the office of Mayor or Commissioner shall be disqualified for a period of 12 months following the swearing in of the subject elected official from serving as a vendor with the Town. A then existing vendor who directly or indirectly makes a contribution to a candidate who is elected to the office of Mayor or Commissioner, shall be disqualified from serving as a vendor with the Town for a period of 12 months from a final finding of a violation of this section, or from the time of action on a waiver request by the Town Commission pursuant to paragraph b. below, in the event that a waiver is sought by the vendor. In the event that such waiver request for a particular transaction is granted, the affected vendor shall nonetheless be disqualified from serving as a vendor with the Town as to any other goods, equipment or services to be provided by the vendor to the Town, beyond the vendor goods, equipment or services which are the subject matter of any waiver which is granted. In the event such waiver request is denied for a particular transaction, the 12-month disqualification period shall continue to apply to both the particular transaction for which the waiver was sought, as well as all other vendor activities for the provision of goods, equipment or services to the Town during that 12-month period.
b. For purposes of this section, the term “disqualified” shall be defined to include:
1. Termination of a contributor/vendor’s existing contracts with the Town, subject to the applicable waiver provisions of paragraph (b) herein; and
2. Disqualification of a contributor’s response to solicitation requests for prospective vendor contracts with the Town, subject to the applicable waiver provisions of paragraph (b) herein.
(4) As used in this section:
a. Vendor.
1. A “vendor” is a person and/or entity who has been selected by the Town as the successful bidder on a present or pending bid to provide to the Town goods, equipment or services, or has been approved by the Town on a present or pending award to provide to the Town goods, equipment or services, prior to, upon or following execution of a contract, or purchase order.
2. “Vendor” shall include natural persons and/or entities that hold a controlling financial interest in a vendor entity. The term “controlling financial interest” shall mean the ownership, directly or indirectly, of ten percent or more of the outstanding capital stock in any corporation or a direct or indirect interest of ten percent or more in a firm. The term “firm” shall mean a corporation, partnership, business trust or any legal entity other than a natural person.
3. “Vendor” shall include a labor union whose members provide labor services for a vendor entity.
4. “Vendor” shall not include Town officers or employees.
5. For purposes of this section, “vendor” status shall terminate upon completion of performance of the agreement for the provision of goods, equipment or services.
b. Services. For purposes of this section, the term “services” shall mean the rendering by a vendor through competitive bidding or otherwise, of labor, professional and/or consulting services to the Town, including, but not limited to, the provision of lobbying services to the Town.
c. Campaign contributions. The term “campaign contribution” shall have the meaning which is ascribed to the term “contributions” pursuant to F.S. § 106.011, as amended.
(b) Waiver of prohibition.
(1) Criteria for waiver. The requirements of this section may be waived by the affirmative vote of four members of the Town Commission for a particular transaction after a public hearing, upon finding that:
a. The goods, equipment or services to be involved in the proposed transaction are unique and the Town cannot avail itself of such goods, equipment or services without entering into a transaction which would violate this section but for waiver of its requirements; or
b. The business entity involved in the proposed transaction is the sole source of supply as determined by the Town Manager in accordance with procedures established by the Town Manager; or
c. An emergency contract must be made in order to protect the health, safety or welfare of the citizens of the Town; or
d. A contract for the provision of goods, equipment or services exists which, if terminated by the Town, would be substantially adverse to the best economic interests of the Town.
(2) Limited waiver. Notwithstanding the denial of the Town Commission of a waiver request regarding the provision of goods, equipment or services under an existing contract pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) above, the Town Commission may, by the affirmative vote of four members of the Town Commission after a public hearing, grant a limited waiver concerning an existing contract for the provision of goods, equipment or services between a vendor and the Town upon finding that in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Town, it is necessary that the affected contract be continued for a limited duration (not to exceed a period of six months) in order for the Town to obtain a replacement vendor.
(3) Full disclosure. Any grant of a waiver or limited waiver by the Town Commission must first be supported with a full disclosure of the subject campaign contribution.
(c) Implementation. The Town Manager is authorized to adopt additional procurement procedures for goods, equipment or services to implement this section. These procedures shall provide for the assembly, maintenance and posting of an official Town vendor list as referenced herein.
(d) Campaign contribution limits. No candidate for the office of Mayor or Town Commissioner shall accept a campaign contribution, and no person or entity shall make a campaign contribution to such a candidate, in an amount which exceeds the aggregate amount of $300.00 per election, adjusted for inflation based upon the consumer price index.
(e) Penalty. Violations of this section shall be punishable as provided in section 1-12 of this Code.
(f) Applicability. This section shall be applied only prospectively to campaign contributions which are made after the date of adoption of this section.
(Ord. No. 2009-04, § 2, 1-27-09)
Secs. 2-26–2-30. Reserved.”

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